NEW DELHI: The real estate regulatory bill will safeguard the rights of consumers against delays in completion of housing projects, industry body CII said today and sought single-window and time-bound approval system for realty projects.

The Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Bill was passed by Lok Sabha yesterday, five days after its passage by Rajya Sabha.

"Passage of the Real Estate Regulatory Act by both houses of Parliament paves the way for a well-deserved and long overdue legislation for safeguarding the rights of consumers, especially the common man, against occasional delays," CII Director General Chandrajit Banerjee said.

The bill seeks to protect consumer interest, ensure efficiency in all property-related transactions, improve accountability of developers, boost transparency and attract more investments to the sector.

It provides for setting up of Real Estate Regulatory Authorities (RERAs), which will regulate transactions related to both residential and commercial projects and ensure their timely completion and handover.

The real estate sector is not only crucial from economic perspective, having linkages with around 250 sectors, but also has deep socio-cultural importance in the Indian scenario, he added.

CII hopes that all state governments would now soon come out with guidelines enabling time-bound approval procedures for housing projects with appropriate penalties for erring departments/ministries, he said.

"Not only would this step usher in a new era of transparency and accountability amongst all stakeholders, but will also help realise the government's ambitious 'Housing for All' scheme by 2022," Banerjee said.

CII would continue to strive towards a single-window clearance regime for real estate and housing projects, he said.

The bill provides for imprisonment of up to three years in case of promoters and up to one year in case of real estate agents and buyers for any violation of orders of Appellate Tribunals or monetary penalties or both.